


We'll Be Pirates

by lilyleopard



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Original Work
Genre: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Dungeons & Dragons References, Fantasy, Multi, NaNoWriMo 2020, Original Fiction, Pieces of Eight, Pirates, Polyamory, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:47:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyleopard/pseuds/lilyleopard
Summary: The soft click of claws on the wooden floor of the inn was the only thing that gave away the presence behind Alice. It was a nice place – she was on a balcony that looked out to the ocean, leaning with her arms on the railing and watching the sunset over the waves. There was a light breeze ruffling her black and silver fur, carrying with it the smell of salt. Downstairs, the place was beginning to fill up, but right here there was peace for a moment. She schooled her face and turned to smile at the green dragonborn that had joined her.The story behind the crew of the Misty Lady, the non-player characters of the Pieces of Eight campaign. Written for NaNoWriMo 2020!





	1. Chapter 1

The soft click of claws on the wooden floor of the inn was the only thing that gave away the presence behind Alice. It was a nice place – she was on a balcony that looked out to the ocean, leaning with her arms on the railing and watching the sunset over the waves. There was a light breeze ruffling her black and silver fur, carrying with it the smell of salt. Downstairs, the place was beginning to fill up, but right here there was peace for a moment. She schooled her face and turned to smile at the green dragonborn that had joined her.

“What can I do for you, Milo?”

“Do I only come when you want something?” His tone was teasing, but she could see the tension he carried in his shoulders, and the worried look behind his eyes. She smiled anyway.

“Suppose not. If you wanted something, you’d have brought a drink to bribe me with.” When he just continued to look at her, Alice sighed. “No sign of him, then?”

Lewis, their friend and the last member of their little party, was known to go off on his own. But it had been nearly two weeks since he had flown off in a huff, and Milo had taken to scouting his old haunts. Capitol was big, but they’d been here nearly six months, and the thought of setting roots down set Alice’s teeth on edge. One of the reasons she was hopping from inn to inn lately instead of staying at their apartment, helpfully rented by Milo. They were all becoming short on not only patience, but coin. It was hard to make a living as an adventurer in a place like this.

“Alice, what if he’s just gone? He’s gotten made before, sure, but not like this.”

She didn’t want to think about it. They had all been through too much to consider he’d just leave. Instead, she deflected like she always did when feelings got too involved.

“He’ll come around, loverboy. Come on, let’s get a drink.” Milo gave her the disappointed look. Alice deflected again. “But not here. There’s a tavern on the south edge that I’ve been eyeing a while.”

The south edge was the furthest from the castle to the north on this, the biggest island in the archipelago. As such, it was one of the worst parts of town. Milo knew this.

And yet.

“I’ll catch up. Stay safe.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then he was gone, just like that. Her tail betrayed the way her heart fluttered at that, curling against her will until she shook it off.

She needed a drink.

Twenty minutes later, Alice found herself at one of the South Edge taverns. This place, known as the Fox Tooth, was one of the worst bars in Captiol. It claimed to be an adventurer’s bar, a place where adventurers and pirates could mingle without fear of a fight, and weapons were checked at the door. A big barrel sat off to the right side of it for this purpose, with several bladed weapons already stabbed into it. Alice stabbed her sword through a spot, but did not volunteer the fact that she had several daggers hidden on her person as well.

It was fairly packed tonight, mostly pirates from what she knew of the local adventuring lot. Up at the bar was a woman that immediately caught her eye, sitting alone with a mug of ale at the bar. She had a wild mane of red hair pulled back at the base of her neck and several prominent tattoos. The first to catch Alice’s eye were the large bear paws on the back of each hand. But, as she drifted that was to order her own drink, she couldn’t help but stare at the wicked, toothy grin tattooed across the woman’s face from ear to ear. She smirked when she caught Alice’s eye, who quickly dropped a few coins to the bar top for her own drink.

“Like what you see?”

Alice took a long drink. She was too sober for conversation, but lacked the coin for the good stuff. She gave a nod anyway.

“Never seen anything like it.”

The woman looked at her for a long moment. It was slightly unnerving, and she quickly averted her gaze to her drink. It was like she was seeing through to her soul. Not for the first time, she wondered if the disguise charm she wore like a shield had malfunctioned. Although, Aunty assured her it would take quite the mage to see through it. As long as she kept control of the flickering.

The woman must’ve liked whatever she saw, because she nodded and put a small sack of coin on the bar.

“Keep the rum flowing for me and my friend here,” she said, with a bit of a nod in her direction. Alice could only stare as the bartender took it without question and set them up. She smiled, a softer thing than the tattoo suggested. “Name’s Maria.”

“Alice.”

“So, Alice. Tell me about yourself.”

They talked for a while. Alice told her little things, just enough information to keep her interested as she got well and truly hammered. To her credit, Maria never pressed. When they got on certain subjects, she would dance around the issue. There was a minute where she worried the goal was to get her drunk, but she was drinking nearly as much.

It wasn’t long before Alice remembered why she had chosen this bar in the first place. A few tables behind them had patrons, one of which with a game of cards. Inevitably, the game turned into an argument, and she saw a glimmer of mischief in Maria’s eyes as she stood and turned to the men.

“Gentlemen! I’m sure we can come to some agreement. What seems to be the trouble?”

There was an awkward beat, as if they could not believe she was butting in. Then, one sneered, and called her a word that set Alice’s mouth into a scowl. She got to her feet just in time for the fight to truly start. The one who had sworn at Maria was on the ground before he could get out another word, and then all hell broke loose.

That’s the thing about places like this. Already set to blow, they just needed a spark. Maria may have thrown the first punch, but it wasn’t long before everyone in the bar was involved. Alice flicked out her claws when the first man she saw charged her with a knife, ducking the slash and giving him a painful, albeit relatively shallow slice across the chest. He wailed and slashed for her again, sending her back a few steps with every advance.

On her left, the bartender was busy counting coin and clearing away any glass within reach. To her right, Maria was laughing as she took on the other three gamblers at once. It was a maniacal sound that sent a thrill down her spine from ears to tail at the thought that it was on her side.

The barfight was over as quickly as it had started. She feinted left and struck right, cuffing the man hard in the ear, and stealing his knife when he fell. She flipped it in her hand and even drunk was able to peg the wall to one man’s left, mere inches from his face. He balked and ran, leaving his companions to Maria, who cracked their heads together and left them groaning on the floor.

She picked up one of their drinks and drained it before turning to Alice with a grin that rivaled the ink across her face.

“You hold up well in a fight!”

“I’d like to think so, I _am_ an adventurer after all.”

Maria frowned. It was a thoughtful sort of expression, and after a moment she nodded, as if coming to some conclusion. She turned away to start counting the coin on the table.

“Well, if you decide to change that, there’s a spot on my crew for a cat like you.”

The _ache_ in her chest for the sea was sudden and fierce. She opened her mouth to speak, to say that she would love nothing more – but that was drunk Alice talking. Missing Lewis or not, she couldn’t just abandon her party. Best to ignore those feelings and move on.

“I… No. I can’t.”

Maria looked to her with an expression akin to pity and her ears quirked back, giving away the ache in her chest.

“Well, if you change your mind. We’re docked to the south under the name ‘The Commodore’ for the next three days.” With that, she scooped up the coin in a pouch and tossed it Alice’s way before giving a little, two-fingered salute. She caught it reflexively. “See you around.”

And like that, Maria was gone, taking Alice’s one chance at getting back on the sea with her.

She did eventually stumble home to an empty apartment. It was a small place, one room with a double bed and a couch they took turns with on the rare occasion that Lewis and Alice were both around. There was a note pinned to the counter of the little kitchen, and she had to read it three times before her bleary eyes would focus long enough to understand the words.

_Went out. Take the bed._

_We’ll be back by morning._

_\- Milo_

Alice decided to listen to the note. The next morning, she woke up late and hung over. She shuffled to the kitchen in a fog and cursed Milo under her breath as she searched empty cabinets for anything to wake her up or settle her angry stomach. Instead, what she got was a mug of tea set down next to one arm. She nearly jumped out of her skin and whirled around claws out, a hairsbreadth from slicing up the humanoid raven stood behind her. He put his hands up and she let them retract.

“Don’t _do_ that!”

“Good morning to you too, Alice.”

She scowled, tail flicking.

“You have some nerve, Feathers. You think you can just show up here, after being off gods know where, and scare the living daylights out of me?!”

He had the decency to look sheepish and she forced the fur on the back of her neck to relax. Lewis was her oldest friend – before they’d met Milo and Saya it was just them against the world – and with that came the ability to leave and come back like nothing had happened. Bastard.

“I made tea?” It was a weak apology. She still took it.

They moved to the couch with two mugs to reconnect. He filled her in on where he’d gone – apparently, he’d flown across the channel to one of the smaller islands that made a ring a few miles out from Capitol and had done a short stint as a courier. She glossed over how they’d looked for him, instead sticking to the fun bits, like the farm rats they’d hunted down one night and her inn-hopping. They were still talking when Milo came in. He looked well rested, but the quip about how she thought he didn’t believe in inns died on her tongue at his expression when he saw Lewis.

“Hey, Milo.” He said, sheepish. Milo just sighed and headed into the kitchen. Alice put a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Go sooth things over. I’ll give you two some space.”

He nodded and headed after him. Alice heard a few soft words and took that as her clue to leave. She didn’t bother calling a goodbye, just locked the door behind her. With Lewis back, the ache in her chest was replaced with a nervous energy. She might have a ship to catch, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, and welcome to NaNoWriMo 2020!
> 
> This year I've decided to do some fanfiction for my own dungeons and dragons campaign. Some player characters may show up and some names have been changed, but if any players happen to stumble onto this I'm gonna go ahead and call this canon as far as these NPCs are concerned.
> 
> This won't update daily, but rather when I finish chapters, which should be fairly frequently. Come along for the ride! If you want to talk about this or other non-writerly things you can find me on tumblr @lily-the-leopard


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The Commodore” was docked not far from the bar where Alice had met its captain the night before. She was huge, with rows of cannons and big white sails that stretched high into the air, and a sense of regality that outshone the smaller ships around her. Her name plate was covered, and it was entirely possible that the name she’d been given was only an alias. No crew was around that she could see, but she still hesitated beside its slip. It had been difficult to find the ship at first, since no one seemed to have heard of it that she could tell, but eventually a dwarf she questioned barked a laugh.

“The Commodore” was docked not far from the bar where Alice had met its captain the night before. She was huge, with rows of cannons and big white sails that stretched high into the air, and a sense of regality that outshone the smaller ships around her. Her name plate was covered, and it was entirely possible that the name she’d been given was only an alias. No crew was around that she could see, but she still hesitated beside its slip. It had been difficult to find the ship at first, since no one seemed to have heard of it that she could tell, but eventually a dwarf she questioned barked a laugh.

“Right. She’s in that slip there, four down and one to the left. Can’t miss ‘er. But I wouldn’t bother – quartermaster would sooner gut you than look at you.”

“I’m looking for the captain, actually. Thanks!” She hurried off in the right direction and ignored the way they shook their head at her.

She had been sitting there a while now, perched on a crate a few spots down and watching the ship, and was about to call it quits when she finally saw the captain. She was dressed similarly to what she’d worn in the bar but had added a brilliant red coat and a hat with a large peacock feather. Beside her walked a triton, dressed in an old-fashioned shirt and cape. Together, they looked like something out of the theatre, but those on the dock gave them a wide berth, and there was no mistaking the casual way the man’s hands rested on the sword at his hip.

Maria grinned when she spotted Alice, who hopped off her box to greet them.

“I was hoping you’d come. This is the one I told you about, Reid.” She gestured in her direction as she spoke and the man, Reid, studied her. His gaze was hard, and if she didn’t know better she’d think he had the Captain’s authority, not the grinning woman beside him.

He signed something that made Maria laugh.

“He thinks I need to find a better way to make friends,” she explained when it became clear Alice wasn’t in on the joke. “But he’s just mad he wasn’t there, I’m sure. So, are you here to take me up on my offer? We could use another deck hand, and the wage is fair.”

“Not… exactly. I have a condition.”

Reid signed something, then crossed his arms. Maria quirked an eyebrow.

“We’re listening.”

“It’s my party. I can’t leave without them. They’re good fighters – Milo taught me everything I know, and Lewis has served on a ship before.”

“Which one?”

“The Quiet Fox,” Alice lied.

If Maria knew, she didn’t say. She and Reid signed back and forth for a few moments, and as they did the dread from before slowly returned. If she didn’t get off this island soon, maybe she never would. Eventually, they seemed to come to some consensus.

“Right. I will give them an interview, on one condition.”

“Anything,” she said before she could think better of it.

“It will be trial by combat, with our quartermaster here. Come tomorrow afternoon and be ready to ship out if they succeed.”

Alice nodded and the two of them continued toward their ship. She stayed on the dock for a few minutes, taking that in, before she turned and headed home. It was a long walk, which she was grateful for to clear her head. She needed to figure out how to break the news that, not only did she want to leave, but they had less than 24 hours to prepare for a fight that _she_ signed them up for. Milo was not going to be happy about this.

An hour later, Alice was back at their door with food and a bottle of rum to act as a peace offering in the inevitable argument. They were talking on the couch when she walked in and the flicking of her tail must have given away some nervousness, based on the way they looked at her.

“Got food. Figured you might want a night in, since you’ve been having so many adventures without us, Feathers.”

An awkward pause. Alice resisted the urge to run and sat herself down between them on the couch instead, offering the bottle to Milo who took it without a word.

“Alright, what’s going on. You’re acting weird.” Lewis said. He clicked his beak, a nervous habit, and she stared up at the ceiling to avoid looking at him.

“So I _may_ have ran into a pirate captain last night, at the bar. And gotten into a fight.”

“Alice!”

“Shh. I’m sure there’s more.” Milo shut his mouth with a frown. He gave Lewis the bottle to take a swig as he waited for her to continue.

“Not with the captain! She bought me a drink first and when I helped out, gave me some coin for my trouble.” She fidgeted with the tails of the cloth tied about her neck. “And then, she offered me a job.”

There was a long silence, broken only by the slosh of liquid as one drank, then the other, the bottle passed wordlessly over her.

“Are you… Are you going to take it?” Milo asked. She looked down at her hands then, flexing her claws.

“I want to. But I told them I’d only go if you could come.”

“And?”

“She said you would have to prove yourselves. You have to fight Reid, their quartermaster.”

Lewis clicked his beak and stood up.

“Right. We’d better start cleaning this place up then. Milo, go talk to the landlady and tell her we won’t be needing this place. She’ll make more off the next tenant anyway, I’m sure.”

Alice just blinked, surprised, and Milo sighed as he stood as well.

“Alright. She won’t be happy, but I’m sure I can convince her. This will help.” He headed out the door with the nearly full bottle without a word.

“I don’t understand.”

“We’re a party. If you want out of here, and you found a way to do that? Course we’ll support you. Besides, that Reid guy can’t be any tougher than Aunty. We’ve got this.”

She gave a little smile that turned into a laugh when he rolled his eyes and pulled her into a hug. In the end, they didn’t have to do much to prepare after all. Most of their adventuring gear lived in Lewis’s bag of holding, and landlocked as they were most of it had gone unused for a while. The landlady took some convincing, but a bottle of rum and the rest of the coin from Maria was enough to break the lease. After that, all they could do was wait.

They showed up to the docks at noon the next day. Each was armed and ready for the combat to come, even Alice who had been promised a spot. If it went too badly, they had a plan to get out of there, but she was really hoping it wouldn’t come to that. Their gear was stored in the bag of holding, but both Alice and Milo had their own packs as well. If they got separated, they needed the essentials, after all.

Maria was waiting on the dock, just ahead of the ship, with the dwarf who’d she’d met the day before.

“See, Sal? I told you they would show.”

Sal huffed and muttered something about empty hammocks as they went aboard without the rest of them. Maria clapped her hands together once with a grin.

“Well then, this should be fun. Alice has spoken highly of you.”

Lewis clicked his beak once as Milo gave a crooked smile.

“I’m glad to hear it. I’m Milo, and this is Lewis.”

“Well, Milo, come on aboard. Reid is waiting for you.”

They stepped up onto the deck of the ship, and Alice couldn’t help looking up at the big sails that raised up almost impossibly into the air. She nearly bumped into Lewis when he stopped suddenly and looked over at what had caught his eye. The crew was spread in a loose circle around the deck, sticking near the railings, and at the center Reid stood, stoic as ever. He signed something that made a few of the gathered crew murmur to each other as Maria turned to address them all.

“We have a couple of new recruits! This party of adventurers want to be pirates.” She paused for laughter, and Alice’s tail flicked. “And what better way to prove their worth than against our very own quartermaster.”

They slipped off their packs then, and the crew murmured in anticipation as Reid drew his sword.

“I only ask that you keep the magic to a minimum. Let us see what you’re really made of.”

Maria stepped aside then, and Alice took point. The three of them approached in a loose sort of formation, with Lewis to her left drawing two of his daggers and Milo to her right slipping into a stance.

Alice ran for him first. Without magic, her best bet was her claws. She struck out with one paw, then the other. Reid sidestepped both with ease and made a neat slice across her back that burned. She landed on one knee as Lewis made his move.

He threw one of the daggers, which missed as he darted forward to slash at him with the second. He managed a shallow cut, just under his eye, but got it back two-fold with a well-placed cut to the leg that sent him to the ground.

Milo took that as his cue to go forward, grabbing Reid around the waist in a bear hug to pull him away from the others. A gasp went through the gathered crew as he practically threw him, and Alice wove around her party to rush him again. That time, she managed to catch his shirt with her claws, but was tugged forward by a hand on the back of her neck. The blade stopped just shy of disemboweling her, instead leaving a shallow cut across her front as he tugged her to the ground and got to his feet.

Milo was waiting and spun to aim a kick at his face. Reid ducked and aimed a cut at his side that he dodged. Lewis turned from his place on the deck and threw another dagger, which Reid dodged, but Milo caught. He flipped the knife and aimed a blow straight at his neck. They fought blade to blade for a few moments, with Milo on the offensive and Reid mostly parrying, until he managed to catch the blade just right to send it spinning off down the deck.

Milo still went for him with a punch, but that gave him an opening to catch his arm and pin it behind him, sword at his neck. Alice’s heart jumped to her throat, but Reid let him go after that. The fight was over.

Alice picked herself up off the ground and went to help Lewis up. A boy ran forward out of the gathered crew and straight to him, muttering to himself as he pulled a pendant with a waterfall carved into it out of his shirt. Their wounds began to close with the healing magic and Lewis was able to stand on his own in short order.

She wanted to ask the cleric about his story, but then Maria was speaking again. Her voice quickly hushed the crew, who had begun muttering again.

“Well, I think it’s clear they belong here. I don’t know the last time someone managed to land a blow on Reid. But this is a democracy, after all. I’ll put it to a vote. All those in favor?”

There was a chorus of _aye_ s. The only people who didn’t seem to agree were Sal and a rather severe looking human standing near them.

“Then it’s settled. Adventurers, welcome to the crew of the Misty Lady.” She laughed when she saw their matching shocked expressions. “Not what you expected? Not to worry, we’ll make pirates of you yet.”

Everyone in the Archipelago had heard of the Misty Lady. Her captain, whispered about on docks and referred to as the Devil herself, was fiercely protective of her crew. They had made a name for themselves by catching and sinking vessels that belonged to the crown, the ones that no one else would dare touch, and making it look easy. And now their party of would-be adventurers had stumbled onto that very crew.

“As you know, I am captain and Reid is our quartermaster. You’ll be expected to pick up sign if you can, but keep in mind – he’s mute, not deaf. If you go whispering behind his back, you’ll be sorry.” Here, she gestured to the human that was openly scowling as they gave a few orders to crew to get ready to set off. “That there is our boatswain, Mad Eye River. You’ll report to him directly. For now, focus on learning the ropes. Someone needs a hand, give it.”

Alice nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound of a dog barking as a large cattle dog ran up from belowdecks. He growled a the three of them as a large half orc came up after him. He was tall with a broken tusk and a prominent tattoo of four claw marks across his jugular. He was also dressed head to toe in a thick hide that looked out of place on a ship.

“Bone, boy! What’s the matter with ye? These are new crewmates, show them respect.”

Bone whined and looked back at the half orc before giving another bark. He grabbed his collar and tugged him along to greet the trio standing around the captain. Maria’s face was hard to read, but she looked almost like she was trying to hold in a laugh at their plight.

“This is Talon, our cook. He and Bone were a package deal, not unlike yourselves.”

Bone was still straining in Talon’s grip and he let him go to sniff Milo and Lewis over. He walked around them in a tight circle, but when he got to Alice crouched down with a growl. Her ears went back reflexively, but Talon just laughed.

“Don’t got any weird magic, do ya? He’s got a nose for it.”

“I’m a bard,” she said, and gave one of her necklaces a tug to show off the small ocarina she used as a focus.

“That’d do it. Go on then, Bone-boy. She won’t hurt ya.” Talon put a heavy arm around her and that seemed to do the trick. She got the same sniffing treatment from Bone before he barked and ran off to presumably bother another crewmate. When he was gone, he let go of Alice. “Bone there’s acting security. But once you’re part of the pack he’s nothing but a pup.”

“You actually came up just in time. I was going to suggest either you or Nathan to show them around the ship before we head out.”

Talon laughed.

“You are a cruel Devil, wanting to set Nathan loose on them this early. I’ll show ‘em the ropes just fine. Come on then, this way to the infirmary!”

As it turned out, the infirmary was where Nathan was – he was the cleric that had patched them up earlier. After a short introduction, Talon pointed out the Captain’s cabin and office across the ship before leading them belowdecks. They were pointed to empty hammocks to drop their packs, then shown the various stores of food, rigging, and cargo.

As they walked, Talon explained different jobs – gunners, riggers, and repairmen to name a few – and pointed them out when they came across them. Hawkins the Fox was the human man in charge of the rigging, Sal was their lead engineer, and there was a white dragonborn who everyone called Icy that was acting master at arms. She was in a heated argument with River when they passed, something that no one else paid any mind to.

Last but certainly not least, they were shown the mess. Here, Talon turned to look at them all sternly.

“Now, I will have no funny business when it comes to mealtimes. You have two days to get yourselves right and learn the way of things. After that, any one who’s late gets their meal fed to Bone.”

Alice grinned at first, but quickly realized how serious he was. The three of them all nodded in turn and were dismissed to go find something to do as they set out. As they headed back to River for orders the three of them shared a look, and Lewis let out a soft chuckle.

“At least it’s better than staying in Capitol.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a longer one! My manuscript is caught up to wordcount, but I ended up scrapping the prologue so we'll see if this actually gets to 50k. I'm probably going to re-edit and add a prologue at some point, but for now here we are. Also just a reminder that this is entirely unedited. I could not post and just upload it after nano is over, but I'm hoping this keeps me a little more accountable. So, expect an edit somewhere in the near future - probably around January.
> 
> Also - yesterday was election day in the US. Take care of each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Alice looked up at the stars, her arms resting on the railing. It had been a few weeks since they set sail, and she still couldn’t quite believe they were on the open water. The archipelago was massive, and they were headed to what was practically the edge of the world to chase a prize, if the rumors were true. One thing that she had picked up quick was that the crew were terrible gossips – if something happened, everyone would know it come next shift change.

Not that she was becoming the center of the rumor mill, of course. She was just struggling to find where she fit so far. Lewis had very quickly become a scout. The ability to fly was a huge asset to a crew such as this, and he would fly off to scout ahead for crown and pirate ships alike at intervals. Milo, on the other hand, was always with either Talon or Reid. He’d told her over breakfast one morning he was just trying to pick up on sign, but she wasn’t sure if she believed that.

Unlike her companions, Alice always ended up with odd jobs. She tried to be proactive in seeking them out, because if not, River always handed her the worst ones. Her claws ached from hours spent scrubbing the deck and railings every day, and there were parts of her fur getting stained black from running powder. They had yet to get into a fight with another ship, but that didn’t make her as antsy as she thought it should.

Guns really were another matter. Maria had summoned her yesterday to ask if she knew anything about them. Snipers were becoming more popular for ships in recent months, but there still remained few who knew how to wield them. And even fewer who had access to anything smaller than that. She’d thought of her father’s pistol, safely hidden within their bag of holding, and lied through her teeth.

But it wasn’t all bad. Even if River had it out for her, Reid didn’t. A few times she’d been sent to him for insubordination, but he just put her on Nathan duty. She didn’t mind Nathan. He was an odd one for sure, talked in circles and seemed to have a chronic inability to lie that didn’t suit a pirate, but he was kind. His name was the first sign she actively memorized. If River complained about her, Reid would look stern and sign Nathan to get her out of the way.

Right now, she was supposed to be sleeping. Reid was on watch but giving her space. If he had an opinion about her being out after dark for the third night in a row, he didn’t mention it. And for that she was grateful. She thought they all must have nightmares. But being out under the stars, away from the never-ending bustle of Capitol, it did her good.

She wasn’t out much longer after that, and gave Reid a little salute good night on her way underdecks. She could almost swear she saw the quirk of a smile before he continued his stoic watch on the sea.

The next morning, Alice woke early and hurried to breakfast. Talon had not been teasing their first day – twice now, one of the crew had been late to a mealtime and had their food sacrificed to Bone. The first had been a young sailor named Brooks who had sighed and accepted their fate. The second was River, who had cursed them all on his way out of the mess. But he was right on time the next morning, Talon made a point to mention to Reid who’d been sent to deal with it.

She was right on time this morning and slid into her place beside Milo once she’d gotten her share. Lewis, however, was missing on her other side.

“No sign of feathers?”

She was grinning, imagining his scowl when he lost his share, but quickly changed tone when she saw Milo’s worried expression.

“No. He didn’t come back last night. Maria sent him off to scout ahead, while you were busy with the powder yesterday, and there’s been no sign of him.”

“I’m sure the captain knows what she’s doing. Maybe he just pushed it and had to stop somewhere to rest?” It was a lame excuse, and they both knew it.

Milo ducked his head to eat with a mumbled, “Yeah, maybe.”

Lewis never did show up for breakfast. To Talon’s credit, he never did make a show of feeding Lewis’s share to the dog, just shared a few words with River before he scooted the plate toward Bone. Reid and Maria weren’t present, but that wasn’t an odd occurrence. She tended to be up before the crew, and he was up most of the night.

She was spared from having to worry when River started barking orders and put her to work on the deck. Again.

It was around noon when the call came down that a ship had been spotted in the distance. She was big, but smaller than the Lady, and made of a much darker wood. She wasn’t flying a flag, but definitely coming towards them. Maria strode out on deck, wearing her captain’s hat and coat, and put a spyglass to her eye. Whatever she saw made her growl.

“Reid! It’s that goddamn cat. Hoist the black.”

Reid signed a series of orders and River called them out.

“Hoist the black! All hands, ready positions! Do _not_ fire until ordered!” rang across the ship as orders were parroted down the ranks. A black flag with four red painted gouges, like those from a bear’s claws, was hoisted. Alice sprinted to the infirmary where Nathan was muttering to himself and preparing supplies for triage. Although new, they all had their stations, and until told otherwise hers was here, defending the cleric. He jumped as she came up behind him.

“Alice! Just in time! I wasn’t sure if you forgot you were with me, it’s your first battle after all. Although, how could you forget something so important, really? Do you think-“ He began, talking a mile a minute. Alice cut him off.

“Focus. What do you need?”

“A hand. You’re for help in combat so I don’t waste all my spells, but also an extra pair of hands. Here,” he said as he handed her a scroll, “we have one scroll of revivify. If I die, use it to bring me back.”

She nodded once and turned to block the doorway while he finished organizing supplies. From her vantage point, she could see the crew get in position. Standing on deck were Maria and Reid, with River in the stairway to act as a bridge between the leadership and those underdecks if cannons were needed. Milo was one of those remaining above as well, part of the deck crew in case they were boarded.

There were several tense minutes as the crew waited in position. Finally, the ship came alongside theirs. _The Calico_ proclaimed the fine brass lettering on her hull. Alice’s heart jumped into her throat seeing that name and the panther tabaxi standing on deck. There was no other crew, just Jack standing with a bound Lewis, gun to his head. Maria growled, and gave the order to let him aboard.

He tugged Lewis along with him. It was hard to see bruises under all the feathers, but the ruffled and broken state of them spoke to there having been a fight. Alice’s knuckles were white where they gripped the hilt of her sword, and she resolutely ignored the worried looks Milo sent her way. Jack was tall and thin, dressed in dark leather, with a dozen scars that littered his body. The most prominent of which was a thick scratch over a pale, blind eye.

“Well, then. I never thought this little birdie would lead me to _you_ of all people, Maria. When did you take in another stray?” His said, voice rough with damage or misuse it was hard to tell.

“What do you want, Jack?”

“I _want_ you to stop sending your spies my way.” He bared his teeth in a snarl, his anger highlighted in the scar across his muzzle.

“I _told_ you, I was just-” Lewis began, but shut up when the gun pressed firmly into his skull.

 _Enough_ , signed Reid. Everyone knew that one. Lewis’s beak clicked, but he shut his mouth.

“I didn’t know you were out here, Jack. If I had, I wouldn’t have sent a spy. I would’ve sent an assassin.” The matter-of-fact way she said that sent a chill down Alice’s spine. Jack sneered and shoved Lewis forward. He lost his balance and hit the deck, hard.

“Stay out of my way, Devil. I will not be so merciful a second time.”

He turned to go, and straight into Milo who was blocking his path, arms crossed. She could see Maria’s smirk from here.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The gun came up to point at Milo. Alice’s feet were moving before she could think better of it. Lewis asked what she was doing in a hiss as she slid on her knees and went for his bag. Jack turned his head at the noise, ears back in annoyance, to find a second gun had been drawn. This time, it was pointed at him.

“Why don’t you step into my office, and we can settle this like adults.” Maria said. The grin was audible in her voice.

Jack just stared at Alice for a moment, then slowly lowered his gun.

“Fine. But leave your trio of misfits out of this.”

Maria led him to her office, and Reid shut the door behind. Alice shoved the gun in her belt before she started to saw through the rope tying Lewis’s hands, Milo grilling her all the while. He only stopped when River barked an order to quiet down and be prepared. He stalked back to his post, shoulders set with anger and worry, and she looped an arm around Lewis’s waist to lead him to the infirmary. He hissed with pain as he sat on the edge of the cot, but Nathan didn’t seem worried as he looked him over.

“Not a worry, Lewis. We’ll get you patched right up. At least, I hope we will. Can never quite be sure with this kind of thing.”

“Great,” he grumbled, but sat still as Nathan began to mutter a prayer. She heard River bark her name from the doorway and gave Lewis’s hand a final squeeze before she hurried out. Her ears and tail gave away the weird mix of annoyance and gilt that churned in her stomach, but the officer paid that no mind.

“Do you know how reckless that was?? I have half a mind to throw you overboard!”

Her tail lashed, and though she saw how Milo shot her warning looks from his post, she couldn’t help herself.

“Good thing you aren’t the captain then, isn’t it.”

“While they are otherwise occupied, I might as well be.” He grabbed her arm with one hand and raised the other, as if to smack her. His wrist was caught in a white, scaled hand.

“That’s enough,” Icy snapped. “If you had free reign any time they deliberated, we’d surely be sunk by now.”

“Why you-”

“I can take this to council, if you’d prefer,” she said, and stared at him with cold, blue eyes. He let go of Alice with a curse.

“Go underdecks and stay there. Send Brooks to take her post.”

Icy gave one firm nod and led Alice down to take Brooks’ spot at one of the cannons. They looked confused but ran up without question. Icy gave her shoulder a reassuring pat and moved through to check their ammo again.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably closer to a half hour, the call came down from River that Jack was leaving. The other gunners murmured in confusion as they re-positioned the cannons to stand down, and one swore as they headed back up to the deck to stand in a loose circle around the captain for a briefing. Lewis was out of the infirmary, but neither he nor Milo looked at her.

“Back to your duties, this changes nothing. _Misfits_ ,” she said, the word dripping with distain, “I will see you in my office. Dismissed.”

No one was happy about this. She could tell by the looks shot their way that most of the crew blamed them for the disruption to their routine, and one that didn’t end in a fight no less. Nathan caught her eye with a double thumbs up, which she could only give a grimace in return.

They shuffled into Maria’s office and when instructed Milo shut the door behind them. She doffed her hat and set it on a stand near the large back window before she sat heavily in the chair behind the desk.

“What the _fuck_ was that. I aught to have the three of you thrown overboard.”

“That’s what River said,” she couldn’t help but mumble. Maria sighed.

“How many times have you lied to me so far, Alice? And you, Lewis, I expected better. Your entire job is to avoid being seen!”

Alice stared down at her feet.

“I was caught off guard at a ship with no crew. It won’t happen again, Captain,” Lewis said stiffly.

“I trust it won’t. Did you tell him anything? Looked like he roughed you up pretty bad.”

“No. He only ended up here ‘cause he followed my rout.” He clicked his beak. “A stupid mistake.”

“Right, you’re dismissed. Stay grounded and watch from the crows nest the next few days.” She reached into her coat and threw him the spyglass, which he just barely managed not to fumble. He walked out and closed the door behind him.

“Milo, that was quick thinking on your part,” she said after a long moment where they stood in a stifling silence. Alice glanced over at him, but if he was surprised at being praised instead of scolded, he didn’t show it. “Next time take your safety into account. He could have shot you.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Off you go, then. See what Reid has for you today.”

He nodded once and left. This time, he did spare Alice a look, but his eyes were unreadable.

“Captain, I-“

“Sit.”

She took the gun out from her belt and set it down on the desk before she did as she was told and sunk into one of the two chairs in front of the desk. Maria picked up the gun and said nothing, just turned it over in her hands once. Alice forced herself to look away, staring at the career’s worth of books and trinkets that filled the shelves that lined the office.

“How many lies,” Maria asked after a long moment as she put the gun back on the desk. Her ears drooped and shoulders hunched a bit.

“A few.”

“Your past is your own, only so far as it does not impact my crew. Is there anything else you want to share? Or is this,” she gestured at the gun, “the extent of your surprises.”

“I didn’t volunteer my services because I am not a sniper. I am only trained in the basics. This is a genuine Oak-made pistol, and it is mine, because I stole it from my father’s workshop. And… Bone was right, I do have weird magic.” Alice took a breath and slipped the gemstone necklace around her neck off, which let her black and silver fur fade back to her normal tabby-ginger in a shimmer of magic. Maria didn’t look shocked or angry, as she had expected, but instead thoughtful.

“So then you and Jack are…”

“Siblings. My name is Robin Song. I lied to protect you, not to hurt you. I never imagined we would run into him, let alone this soon.”

She put her necklace back on and shifted a few times – a human woman, a red dragon born, and a snow leopard tabaxi – before she settled back into Alice. Maria put a hand to her chin for a few moments, deep in thought, before she slowly nodded.

“Alright. Your secret is safe with me. If you must lie to the others, do so. But I would ask that you keep me informed, as much you can.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Here,” she offered her the gun, which Alice quickly took, “Keep this on hand, just in case. And send River in, will you?”

She took that for the dismissal it was and nodded before she hurried off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been slacking on updates. I considered posting these all separately, but instead am posting everything at once. Enjoy!

Somehow, in all the excitement over Jack, they had nearly forgotten their prize. The Torridge was a military ship, named after some general from 100 years ago. She was kept just off the coast of Latchmada Cay, a crown stronghold two months south of Capitol, but by the time they got there should be heading back toward Capitol for Kingsfest. It was the biggest event of the year, and one that the gaudy captain Thornbrooke would not miss. With any luck he would be bringing an entourage of nobles instead of soldiers, which would make for easy pickings.

In the days leading up to the battle, the Misty Lady was a flurry of activity. After the events with jack, they had fallen into a new sort of normal. The three of them still were barely talking, but Lewis had gone back to his patrols and Milo trailed after Reid like a lost puppy. Alice kept herself busy. Whatever Maria had said to River had only made his animosity towards her greater, and it seemed she would forever be the deck swab. At least the physical work kept her mind from wandering.

The night before, they had a meeting. It was the first they’d had since picking up the Misfits, as was becoming the nickname for their little band, and Alice didn’t quite know what to expect as they all gathered on the deck. Her crewmates all drifted naturally into groups where they sat or leaned casually on the railing in a loose circle around the deck. Unlike the others, the three of them were silent. Alice’s tail drooped before she sat cross-legged in front of the boys.

She was saved from her loneliness when Maria came out of the office with Icy. The two of them had been going over battle plans for much of today and must have come up with something good.

“Right, then. For the uninitiated among us, this here is the talking bone,” Talon said as he broke away from the circle. He held in one hand a large bone, bleached white and covered in carvings, that he gestured with for emphasis. “If you have concerns, step forward and wait for your turn to speak. I’m actin’ moderator, so no funny business.” With that, he handed the bone over to Maria and took his spot near the head of the circle.

Maria delved into their plan. It was a full assault, with one group that would go aboard and engage in hand to hand, and another that would stand back for support. River would lead the boarding party, which included Lewis and Milo, while Reid oversaw the supports, including Alice. If things went south, they were the first line of defense. Icy and her crew would stay belowdecks to provide canon fire unless they were needed elsewhere.

She thought it was a solid plan. Like with most things, River disagreed. He was the first to get to his feet, hand out for the bone.

“I have an issue with some of these groups,” he said once he had the bone in hand, “I don’t want some trigger-happy tabaxi at my back. Give me Alice and put Lewis on support.”

Lewis stepped around Alice. River frowned, but handed him the bone.

“Sure, I can throw a knife, but I’m not a spellcaster. Do you really think I’d be of more use out of the fight?”

“Yes. That puts one caster in the fray if needed and keeps someone who fights fresh if things go bad.”

Reid snapped to get their attention, and River translated his sign, bone still in hand.

_“I’m a fighter too. River makes a good point – we should spread out our forces if we can.”_

Lewis gave a curt nod and stepped back. Maria took the bone then.

“Fair points. Alice, what do you think?”

She stood up and walked over to take the bone. It was unnaturally smooth in her hand.

“I’m better long-range than Lewis, but if you’d rather have a spellcaster around, then I’m your best bet. I’ll go where I’m needed.”

She handed the bone to Icy next who began to list off the roles of her gunning crew. This time, there were no complaints.

“Any other items of business while we are in council?” asked Maria once she had the bone in hand again.

No one stepped forward and Talon called the meeting to an end. The crew drifted to their nightly assignments and left the Misfits on deck. Alice got up and stood to lean on the railing between them, the three of them looking out over the water.

“I didn’t tell Jack, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Lewis said after a few long moments. Alice’s ears flicked back in shame. She had been – ever since he came back and started avoiding her. She gently butted her head into his shoulder.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she mumbled. The closest thing to an apology that she could give. He leaned his head against hers, a quiet forgiveness.

“It’s been a while since we were in combat,” Milo said after another silence had settled over them. Alice shifted so she could look at him, but he continued to stare resolutely out at the water, chin on his arms.

“Are you worried?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“…can I hug you?”

“Sure.”

She put an arm around him, and he leaned against her a moment before he straightened up. The three of them shared a look then – the kind of look that carries an entire conversation in a matter of moments – and Milo’s worried look softened.

“Come on, let’s get some rest. Be safe tonight, Lou.”

He headed off to get flight directions from the captain as they headed underdecks to try to sleep. She had the kind of dreamless sleep that comes after you’ve worked yourself to the bone, or cried yourself out, and she wasn’t sure which was the cause of it. Regardless, she was grateful to wake early the next morning with nothing worse than the usual dull ache from a day’s hard work.

The Torridge came into view just before midday. They had gone back and forth on whether they should rely on the cover of dark, but in the end decided that the surprise of attacking her only a few days into her travels was something they could not pass up. At night, she may be on guard, but at noon on a slightly overcast day? She was prime for the picking.

Like every crew, they had pre-battle rituals. Black and red paints were mixed up and passed around for eye black and to paint on the signifier of the crew. Only a small handful of them had the bear claw marks of their flag as a tattoo, but before the battle came around there wasn’t one of the crew who did not brandish those painted marks with pride.

The Misfits sat together on the deck with Icy. She had a tattoo going across her ribs that peeked out from the bottom of the short shirt she tended to wear, but she was the best fit to help the less human members of the crew. On skin it was easy, but they had to get creative. She painted with an ease that only came with practice, but talked over the battleplans again all the while. Icy was like that – she was all business on the outside, but had a gentleness to her that only came out in the quite moments.

Milo’s scales were died red where the marks stretched across his collarbone, and black where she’d put lines under his eyes. A final black mark on his shoulder identified him as boarding party. Next was Lewis, whose feathers were quickly caked with the stuff. They wouldn’t be as clean across fur or feathers, but he looked proud of the red marks that stretched across one wing. Alice came last. The paint was cold where it seeped into her fur, but she sat still as she painted four red lines across her upper arm. On the other side, she marked her as the boarding crew.

“Stick together, you two,” she said as she finished up. She was looking at them all sternly – first the two on the boarding crew and then Lewis, who clicked his beak. “And Lewis, I don’t care what River says. You fly over if they need you.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good lad.”

With that, she left. The three shared a last moment together before Lewis gave a nod and headed off to find Reid. Alice broke away to look for Nathan.

He was muttering and organizing the infirmary like he had the other day. This time, a large Warhammer was laid out on the cot. The four gouges in its side matched the marks painted across one side of his face. He jumped when she whistled.

“Alice! Shouldn’t you be with River? Or are they not setting off yet? Oh! I see you’ve got colors,” he said with a smile. His usual bubbly personality didn’t match his warlike appearance in the slightest. His long hair was pulled back in a series of braids, in sets of four of course. Everyone had their little rituals, after all. She flexed her arm.

“Pretty sweet, huh?”

He studied her for a moment before he gave a nod and turned back to his work. “It suits you.”

She was suddenly glad that her dark fur kept him from seeing that she had gone pink to the tips of her ears. She coughed and gestured vaguely toward the hammer.

“Are you fighting in this?”

“I’m on support. But if it comes to it, I won’t be caught helpless. That was a gift from the captain. Something about sticking up for myself. I don’t get it. I mean – I do? But I’m not nearly as helpless as everyone thinks. Well, maybe when compared to someone like _Maria_ , but-”

“Nathan.”

“Right.”

They stood in silence a minute before her name was being called. River was rounding up his party, it seemed. Nathan gave a little salute in goodbye as she ran off.

They gathered near the port side as River explained the plan again. He said he didn’t want any funny business. If everyone stuck to the plan, it would go off without a hitch. When people deviate, get creative, that’s when things go wrong. Their orders were to get in, take hostages, get out. They split further into two groups – Alice was with those tasked to do the thieving, and Milo was on the offensive. Thanks to Lewis, the crew now had a total of three bags of holding onboard – plenty of space to pick the vessel clean. They were passed out, and Alice gripped the familiar dark leather like a lifeline as the nerves started to set in.

It was then that Maria stepped out of her cabin. She was dressed to the nines in her best coat and hat, large peacock feather pluming into the air, and tattoos on full display. At her hip glittered a cutlass that she would bet was enchanted in some way, and she strode to take the wheel with a contagious sort of confidence.

“Right! You have your orders. Let’s take this prize. Hoist the colors! Let’s see what kind of captain we’re up against.”

The order was parroted like a mantra until it reached Hawkins, the master rigger, who hoisted the distinct black and red flag as they got within range of the Torridge. There was a moment where they all held their breath. If it went well, they would be allowed to board and there would be little bloodshed. If not, they would have to claw their way close to board before they sunk her with canon fire. Luck was with them. The crown ship lowered its flag, and a cheer went up among the gathered crew.

“Prepare to board!” Came the order. They pulled alongside her in short order and River led the boarding party up over the rails. On deck was a mixture of crew and cowering nobility – it seemed Maria’s intuition had been right after all. River stood over them with claw marks on his face to match the tattoo on the back of his calf and drew his sword.

“Right, here’s how this is gonna go. You sit nice and quiet, and everyone leaves in one piece,” he said to them, before he shook two fingers to sign _hurry_. The three runners spread out to case the ship, and Alice heard him telling them to hand over any jewels as she bolted to the captain’s quarters and the other two ran for the hold. She would be meeting up with them in a moment. The door was locked, but it wasn’t a strong thing, and she picked it in less than a minute. She ignored Thornebrook’s protests and pushed the door open. Inside, it was gaudier than theirs – instead of a lifetime of trinkets, it was plush and decorated in spoils that showed his nobility. There was a young man in here, cabin boy or low-level recruit from the look of him, who was hastily shoving some paperwork into a bag of his own. He fumbled and drew a gun from behind the desk, a human-made sniper that looked huge in his hands. They shook as he brandished it at her.

“Look, kid. I don’t want-” she started, but the shot went off with the thundering _crack_ of gunpowder. The slug buried itself in her side and she couldn’t choke back a yowl at the bright white pain. Outside, someone was yelling. In here, she gathered herself best she could and snarled as she threw a spell at the kid with a sour note from her ocarina. He let out a cry of his own and crumpled as blood dribbled from his ears.

She dragged herself to the desk and pulled the papers from his bag. If he didn’t want her to have them, then the captain might want them. Those were shoved unceremoniously into her bag and the gun slung across her back as she moved. The world tilted, but she leaned against the wall and methodically started pulling anything that looked valuable down. Gold trinkets, jewels, a mounted sword – her anger at the obvious wealth while in capitol people were starving threatened to boil over. She tossed the worthless items like books and a set of pens to the ground because she could.

Someone ran into the doorway as she was heading back to the desk, walls picked clean. She pulled her ocarina up before she even turned, and seeing a drawn sword she let off a spell. He didn’t go down so easily, but clutched at his head as she ducked behind the desk. She leaned out just enough to get another spell off that unfortunately went wide and winced as he cast a spell of his own. Fire struck the side of the desk and singed some of her fur. She searched for something, anything to get her out of this, and saw the ammo pouch still strapped to the boy’s leg. She crawled over and tugged it off him as another spell blasted the desk. Shell in, powder, make sure it’s just right – her years of muscle memory saved her as the panic threatened to overwhelm.

Alice popped up from behind the desk to fire at him. At point blank range with a bullet in her side, she ran the risk of going wide, but luck was with her. It struck true and shattered his sternum where it buried in his chest with a loud crack. There was a splutter as he tried to breathe and choked on his own blood. She slammed the gun down on the desk and the ammo pouch in her pocket. Just the drawers, then she could get out. The sounds of yelling and magic were obvious now through the open door, but she tuned them out.

In the left drawer, she found a crate of potions. They were all sorts of colors, and she shoved them in the bag before she could dwell too long on the contents. The right drawer was already open, and there was nothing but a journal. She pocketed it. The middle was a problem. Her hands were shaking, but it was locked. She got out her picks and attempted it three times before it finally popped open. Inside was a series of letters and a dragon tooth. She shoved these in the bag, threw the gun across her back again, and bolted for the door. She scanned the crowd for her crewmates and saw Milo in hand-to-hand with a man twice his size. Everything in her screamed to go to him, but she was stopped short by River yelling her name. He was closest to her and crossed swords with the captain himself.

“Get the hell out of here! The others are still underneath!”

Thornebrook snarled when he saw her leaving his office, but River blocked him as she ran for the stairs.

“Someone get that cat!”

She drew her sword as she made it underdecks, but it was relatively quiet under here. There were a few people cowering, but they’d left their canons mostly unmanned, and she paid them no mind. They were not prepared for a full-on assault.

“Alice! Gods, what is happening up there?” Asked Brooks as she reached them. Her eyes swam at the sight of this much finery. They had gone through the cabins already and had just opened up her cargo hold as she’d approached. Mixed in among the usual were jewels, fine silks, and a set of dress armor among other trinkets.

“Bastard shot me. Gunfire spooked them, I guess,” she said as she started on a crate. Hawkins untied the sash around his waist and tied it tight to put pressure on the wound when she had to stop and steady herself.

“Let’s be quick about this.”

They made short work of what was left and were making their way back up the steps when the call came out to retreat. They didn’t need the ship, after all, and River stepped up on the railing to shout over the crowd.

“Leave the rest of them. The Devil calls!”

A cheer rose up from the pirates before they swarmed back over the side. She faltered as that pulled at her wound, but felt a strong hand grab her by the back of her shirt before she could land face-first on the deck. Reid gave her a nod once he’d set her on her feet and strode off toward the captain. It seemed the defense had come to their aid after all. She took several unsteady steps forward and finally lost her footing when a cannon hit the side of the ship. She was not the only one to hit the deck but was the slowest to get back up.

Hawkins pulled her to her feet and hooked her arm around his neck. All around them, orders were being called, but her head was fuzzy. They limped their way to the infirmary as the ship sped away from her target. They were hit with two more solid shots before they managed to pull away and left the Torridge limping in the water. Both had them lurching forward, but he kept her on her feet long enough to reach the mast. There, he helped her to sit, and put his bag in her lap.

“Stay put, I’ll get Nathan.”

She thumped her head against the mast and shut her eyes for a moment. The adrenaline was fading and was replaced with pain. When she opened them, it was to River stalking her way. He took Hawkins’s bag.

“Get up.”

She blinked at him. He drew a knife. Can’t argue with that logic. She put a hand to her side, the fabric wet where she was bleeding through the pink fabric, and got painfully to her feet. Before he could give her another order, Nathan came running. His braids were mussed. Hawkins followed behind with a dark look in his eyes. He took the bag from her shoulder and shoved it against River’s chest.

“Fuck off, she’s injured.”

He snarled, but stalked away to presumably find someone else. Hawkins took her weight again as Nathan fussed over her. He badgered her with questions all the way to the infirmary, which she answered as best she could: yes, she was shot; no, it had not gone through; no, she didn’t shoot first.

She was set down on the cot while he grabbed his holy symbol and hissed as she pulled at her wound in her haste to sit back up. Hawkins held her down by the shoulders.

“Wait! You have to dig it out, don’t close me up with _metal_ in me-”

“I know what I’m doing, hold _still_.”

He cast something on himself and tugged a drawer open to retrieve what looked like a thick strap of leather.

“Put this in her mouth. Alice, this is very likely going to hurt.”

She bit down and tensed as he gently unwrapped their makeshift bandage and slid her shirt up to get at the wound. It was still bleeding sluggishly, a mess of blood and matted fur. Hawkins squeezed her hand. Nathan did not apologize, but he had the decency to flinch when she screamed. Hawkins held her down again as she instinctively tried to writhe away from the source of the pain, muttering reassurances that it would soon be over.

In the end, she lost consciousness. She came to with a soft moan sometime later. Her head felt like it was full of cotton, but the pain had dulled to a quiet ache. Nathan sighed and someone squeezed her hand.

“No more metal. I’m fresh out of spells, but I can see to you again in the morning,” Nathan said. Before she could open her mouth, he added, “Don’t thank me.”

She nodded and opened her eyes to see not Hawkins, but Milo. He was sitting up by her head and holding her hand. He pressed a kiss to it before he let it go.

“River is pissed. Thinks you shot first.”

“I didn’t even have a gun.”

“I know. Maria gave him a lecture about respecting his crew. Threatened to call a council to replace him.”

“I didn’t vote for him,” Nathan muttered as he turned away to put some supplies back.

“Is she mad?” she asked after a few moments. Milo had to think for a minute.

“I don’t think so. She seemed frustrated, but when they were going over the loot she immediately went for those papers.”

“Mm.”

Milo stood up then. She moved to follow, but Nathan gently pushed her back.

“Nope. You’re staying here, at least until morning. Well – I suppose you could escape, but I would rather you didn’t. Get some more sleep.”

“I’ll send Lewis in later, okay?”

She nodded and settled in for a well-deserved nap.


	5. Chapter 5

They split up the plunder equally. That fact surprised Alice when she heard it, but it made sense. Look at Maria’s office compared to Thornebrook’s. Their captain was not a lavish woman, and by her own words did not think it was right to take more than her fair share. If anything, people like Alice who’d been wounded for the cause had more of a right to the bounty. As it was, she did take first pickings.

There was a short council meeting about the proper split after that – she wanted the papers as her cut, but the rest of the crew needed to decide if they would take the goods as is or sell them for cash. Most of what she had taken were either trinkets that would make for some quick coin or magic items that, while they may fetch a nice price, could be an asset if someone could wield them. What they’d gotten from the hold before she’d arrived was mostly cargo, which would fetch a pretty penny in the right port.

The decision was made to split some goods and fence the others. Starting with the captain, they went down rank. Anyone who wanted an item could take it, and the rest of their respective cuts would be given in gold. Rumor was that they were headed to the Dragon’s Maw – the famous pirate city near the heart of the archipelago.

Most of the crew opted for the coin, save a few: Lewis ended up with a fancy dagger, Nathan kept back a few gems, and Alice still had the gun. It wasn’t really a part of the hoard they’d gathered, but it was nicely made. Maybe she’d find a real sniper to give it to down the road. For now, it lived in the bag of holding next to the pistol she’d trusted Lewis with.

As they so often did on a ship like this, the rumors turned out to be true. It was only another few weeks before they pulled up to one of the most dangerous places in the entire archipelago. The Dragon’s Maw was just that – a port city built into what remained of a massive dragon skeleton. It had fallen on this island countless ages ago and the pirates had chosen this to be their new haven.

Before they got ready to pull into the port, River gathered the bulk of the crew. All people without tattoos, she couldn’t help but notice.

“Now, the Misty Lady sets off again in two weeks’ time. If you wish to stay, so be it. If not, come back on the 26th for your pay and find another ship out. You can stay in town or onboard while you’re here, but I’d prefer to know how much new crew we need get.”

A few mentioned they would be leaving. The Misfits shared a look and all vowed to stay. If he was angry about it, he hid it well.

“Right then, to your stations. Alice, a word?”

Milo squeezed her arm and Lewis gave a worried look, but they both headed off to help in their usual way. Her tail flicked.

“What can I do you for?”

“You have a new job while we’re here.”

She managed to keep from scowling, but only just.

“Isn’t this supposed to be leave?”

“It is! But there’s just one problem. I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that Nathan can’t lie.” She must’ve made a faced, because he looked at her seriously. “Not doesn’t. Can’t. And that makes him a liability.”

“And you want me to, what? Babysit?”

“Something like that. We normally take it in shifts, but I think you’re up to the challenge. Think of it like a test. If you can show responsibility, I’ll hire someone else to swab the decks.”

She felt her tail lash with frustration but pushed it down. If it was the choice between the two of them, she’d rather have Nathan. He was harmless, and if anything, it might keep her from overdoing it.

“Fine. Is that all?”

“Yes. Speaking of – go tell him the good news.”

She felt the rage flare up again at his smug look but had to be satisfied with a scowl once his back was turned. She stalked to the infirmary and took a breath to calm herself at the door. It wasn’t his fault their boatswain had it out for her.

Hawkins shoved the door open and ran straight into her.

“Oh! Sorry, Alice, didn’t see you there.”

They hadn’t talked since the battle. It’s not that she’d been _avoiding_ him, per say, but what could you say to someone you’d last seen holding you down? She’d made Nathan give his sash back for her once she’d gotten the blood out, and he had it looped around his waist where it belonged. She wouldn’t have bothered ordinarily, but he’d mentioned offhand to her once that it was his good-luck charm, and she had her own lucky scrap of cloth tied about the neck.

“Uh. Alice?”

Oh. She must have been staring.

“Sorry, uh- lot on my mind. Everything okay?”

“Just slipped. I’m fine now though, he got me fixed up real quick. But what about you? I haven’t seen you since, uh… How’re you holding up?” He looked as awkward as she felt.

“Can’t complain, it barely scarred. Um- thank you, Hawks. If it weren’t for you, who knows what would’ve happened.”

He waived her off and something settled in her chest – she hadn’t made things too awkward between them after all.

“I was just in the right place at the right time. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Will I see you around?” He hadn’t been at River’s meeting, but she’d yet to see his tattoo. He grinned.

“I reckon so,” he said, then turned to head toward the mast. She shook her head with a smile of her own and pushed the door open to head into the infirmary. Nathan was only half-done putting stuff away and didn’t try to hide that he’d been watching.

“You patch things up with the Fox, then?” He asked with a grin. She rolled her eyes and made a show of picking up a few of his things to put in their proper places. They worked in silence for a few minutes before she turned to him.

“River asked me to stay with you while we’re ashore. If that’s okay?”

He sighed. “Yeah. That’s fine. I mean – it’s not, but it’s what’s happening and that’s what you say when things have to happen, and you want-”

“Nathan?” She cut him off. He took a breath and tried again.

“I know why it’s necessary. It makes me frustrated. I will try not to be too much trouble.”

“It’s not trouble, we have fun together!”

“Alice, I can’t _lie_. In a pirate city?? That’s a disaster waiting to happen. I mean- I mean I _think_ it is. I start rambling and then it’s-”

“We’ll work with it. Would you feel safer here on the ship?”

He thought about this a moment and worried his holy symbol between his hands. Eventually, he decided that no, he really did want to go ashore. They made a plan: she would go ashore first to get her bearings, then they could go together the rest of the week. They’d take Maria up on the offer to sleep aboard and plan to be back by sunset.

Like all well-thought plans, it fell apart almost immediately. The first day was fine. The Misfits went ashore together and the boys spent coin while she kept an eye out for places that she thought Nathan might like. He needed to shop mostly, but with a place this populated she was less worried about what he could say to one person, and more about them getting separated.

Which is exactly what happened.

A week into their stay in the Maw, they were back in the market. They didn’t go out every day, and he was very adamant about her venturing out alone a few times to explore and have fun, which usually boiled down to getting drunk with different groups of the crew. But today they were getting some mundane healing supplies to stock up for the next haul. They had gotten most of their list and had wandered to a stall of magic items where she was eyeing a very pretty bracelet that claimed to close wounds. She turned to ask what he thought, only to find him gone.

She thanked the woman for her time and walked away quickly as she swallowed down panic. Maybe something had just caught his eye? She could have sworn he was right beside her, but there were a lot of people here. How long had he been gone?

There! In the corner of her eye saw something. One the ground, stepped on by two people who passed by it, was a pendant. She scooped it up and rubbed her thumb over the familiar waterfall carved in the front and looked around. It was hard to stay in one spot here, with people jostling her for lingering too long in an isle, but it wasn’t long before she was moving again. She ran up to a nearby stall and asked if they’d seen a half-elf. Five gold later, they remembered him.

They’d seen some men dragging a boy after them, and he’d dropped the pendant. Three more gold was what it took to get the direction, and they did her one better. Apparently, the men had looked like Wild Fane’s boys – they had a tavern not far from here. She thanked them and ran off after them.

The Bitter Lamb was a rundown place in one of the upper districts. Further from the water, it attracted less of those that were coming and going, and as such was the kind of place you only went if you wanted something. She would have to be careful.

She snuck her way close to the place and down a side alley, where she used her claws to pull herself up to see through a second-floor window. What she saw sent her heart straight into her throat. Nathan was on the other side of a large room, facing her, with two men in front of him that had their backs to her. He didn’t look bruised, but there was a steady stream of blood from his nose as he stared them down. They locked eyes and he started spelling at her.

_O-N-E D-O-W-N-S-T-A-I-R-S_

She gave a salute and ducked quickly down before they could turn and see her. She climbed quickly down and ran around front quickly, eyes out for any prying eyes as she picked the lock. True to his word, there was only one man when she opened the door. He looked up from the papers he had spread out on the bar and scowled.

“How did you get in here?”

“Lockpicks,” she said, and blew into her ocarina. The spell was quick and deadly. The man slumped over the bar before he could draw his blade and she hurried upstairs. She opened the door to what looked to be at one time an office and came face to face with his captors. They both looked shocked to see her, and Nathan wheezed a laugh.

“Devil’s calling, boys.”

“Why you-” she threw another spell before the man could grab her. He stopped, frozen, and his companion pulled a knife. She flicked out her claws.

The battle was as quick as it was bloody. After less than a minute, her fur was sticky with blood up to her elbows, and both men were dead. Nathan slumped forward as she untied him.

“Come on, let’s get you home. Can you stand?”

“I didn’t tell them anything. I couldn’t lie, so I didn’t tell them anything.”

She gently cupped his face to look at him and thumbed away the sluggishly oozing blood.

“I’m so sorry, Nathan. I thought you were behind me, I-”

His newly free arms came around to wrap her in a fierce hug.

“You came and got me, that’s what matters.”

She hugged him back just as tight, then pulled back to help him up. He took his holy symbol back and made a face at the sight of the throats she shredded to get to him but led the way out of the rundown bar. She hummed a few notes and mended his shirt to hide the prominent four stripes of a tattoo as they walked. If he noticed, he didn’t mention it.


	6. Chapter 6

In the end, they’d had to tell Maria. Alice hadn’t been sure how to approach the whole “Nathan got kidnapped” thing in a way that didn’t prove to River that she was as much of a screw up as he thought, but Nathan said he’d take care of it. He disappeared into the office and came out an hour later telling her to relax already, they could trust the captain. She frowned at his easy confidence, but she knew he couldn’t lie. Not without having to face the physical consequences at least, and there were no drips of blood following that firm assurance.

The rest of the week went by without incident. They went ashore together twice more to finish his list, and each time she stuck to his side like a nervous mother hen. She was sure he noticed, but he didn’t comment on it – just got what they needed and maybe a drink before they went back to the ship. They spent a lot of time in the infirmary or on deck just playing cards.

At the end of the week, the crew gathered again. All told, they ended up with a few thousand gold each. One of the other members grumbled about it not being enough from a prize like that, but she had never seen so much gold in one place.

Most of them went out to splurge on their last night in the Dragon’s Maw. Maria included, which felt right after seeing her off in meetings with various contacts all week to get the cargo moved and do deals with other captains. Alice volunteered to stay aboard along with Reid, Sal, and Nathan. They made their own fun with some of the quartermaster’s personal stash. He didn’t drink much, Sal explained, but he liked the bottles. They passed a bottle of rum around and played cards long into the night.

The next morning, River called the crew together. Most of them were hungover, but he had Maria backing him up, so they listened. She tried not to shudder at the tall human man with the rifle strapped to his back that was part of the lineup.

“Right, then! We had a few dropouts, so these are the new crew of the ‘Lady. All know their way around a ship,” he said with a look at the Misfits that sent a few of the crew chuckling. Lewis clicked his beak. “So let’s make them feel welcomed, shall we?”

Bone came running, right on cue. He growled, hackles up, and she had to hide her grin behind a hand at how nervous a few of the men looked. He circled them, sniffing wildly, before Talon came to their rescue.

“Alright, alright, give it a rest Bone-boy,” he said and ruffled the dog’s ears. The crew started to scatter as he gave the same spiel he had given them their first day – a rundown of the superior officers and his no-nonsense mealtime policy.

“Ten gold says bone gets three meals the first week,” Milo whispered before they split up. Alice laughed.

“I think it’ll be four,” she said.

“Money’s on five,” chimed in Lewis.

They shook on it and broke off to attend to their tasks. River apparently had other ideas and stopped her on her way to the infirmary.

“Go help Icy underdecks. She’s down a gunner ‘til Talon lets the new lot go.”

She gave a quick nod and ran off to be useful. An hour of preparations later, they were finally able to pull away from shore. The ship was a bustle of activity, orders being shouted left and right by different officers as the crew got back into a rhythm. She wasn’t sure what the next prize would be, but there was a rumor going around that it would be less time between ports. Brooks thought they might head to Capitol for Kingsfest, and while she was in no hurry to get back there, she would follow where Maria led.

It took three days for River to decide one of the new crewmates, a halfling woman who’d taken the name Hunter, was much better suited to Icy’s crew than she was. She wasn’t surprised by the decision – Icy had warned her yesterday that he was going to make that call, since she had maxed out her crew – but it still stung to be back to running powder and swabbing decks.

On the fourth day, they spotted clouds. Weather in the archipelago was a fickle mistress. By virtue of being a flat world, it lacked poles, and island climates tended to vary wildly based on their own magical climates. The only people who could really tell how it worked were the druids who had been ousted from crown territory almost 200 years ago. However generally speaking, the later months of the year were the worst for this.

On their first voyage, there hadn’t been a single dark cloud. But as they got closer to Kingsfest, they were going to become more common. The first week of the year, where the major holiday and consequently the coronation of the king fell, most ships would be stuck in port. As such, most tried to get to Capitol before the bad weather set in where there was at least some trade to be done, instead of being stuck on a little island near to an edge.

So here they were, out in the open water, with clouds drifting their way. If they were lucky, they’d pass through no problem. But the crew of the Misty Lady were rarely that lucky. River called an order for things to be tied down and Alice dumped her bucket before she started to methodically tie down anything that could move. Underdecks, she could hear Icy’s orders to do the same as the wind began to pick up.

Hawkins was up in the rigging, trying to get a line down, when the waves started to pick up. She heard the shout and threw the spell just in time to catch him in a feather fall as he lost his grip on the mains. He drifted down and landed on his back instead of his head, shaking a bit from his brush with death as he got to his feet.

“Th-thanks, Alice. I suppose that will have to do.”

“Don’t mention it. Here, come help me with this,” she said, and he hurried over to help hold down the gear she was lashing down as the wind threatened to take it again. The rain started then. It was cold and plastered her fur down in minutes as the storm continued to build. River called out an order to take cover that was parroted across those still on deck.

“Let’s get under!” Hawkins shouted over the rising storm. She nodded.

“I’m right behind you!”

He made his way to the stairs, but then she saw Nathan. He was latching the door to the infirmary shut as they hit another wave that rocked the boat hard and didn’t keep his feet under him. She threw herself forward to bolt on all fours and just managed to scruff him and keep him away from the railing.

He clung to her with shaking hands and she had to drag him to the stairs. River was waiting and added them to the headcount as they stepped down. Only Reid remained on deck – as a triton, he took responsibility of the ship in a storm like this. Maria was the last to arrive, hair wet and frizzy without her hat and coat.

“What’s the count?”

“All present and accounted for, Captain.”

They settled in to wait. It wasn’t cozy by any stretch as they tried to patch leaks from above and be ready to jump into action if baling became a necessity, but eventually the fear became just another bit of background noise. That was good for morale, but meant she wasn’t prepared for Hawkins’ loud curse at the sound of a snapping line. It cracked like the thunder and the ship rocked harshly.

“Hawkins!” Maria barked, but he was already running up the stairs. Alice shoved the material in her hands at Milo to follow.

“Get back, it’s not safe!” River called.

“Hawkins stop!” She cried as he reached the mast. He looked at her with wide, frightened eyes.

“It’s my fault! If we can’t get it up, the mast-”

She flicked out her claws.

“Tell me what to do!”

He stared a moment and nodded, then looked up at the mains. He had to squint against the rain but rattled off a series of ropes to try as she grit her teeth and started to climb. The wood was just yielding enough to her claws to get a good grip to tug herself up with. It scraped her pads and the wind threatened to drag her off the ship with every gust, but she kept her gaze determinedly on the lines ahead.

The mast was the easy part. Once up there, she had to the line to tie the half-open sail back before it could tear in the wind or worse. She inched along the smaller strut of wood and a crack of lightning thudded in her very bones as she reached out blind and managed to hook the line. She tugged as hard as she could at the rope, her whole body held up by her legs.

For a moment, it didn’t budge, and the freezing wind threatened to knock her down. Then it shifted just enough for her to get the sail closed. She tied the line quick and tight and inched her way back down.

Reid was the only one on deck when she dropped the last foot down. He was like a statue at the wheel, a paragon of calm in the face of the storm. Especially when compared to her freezing, shuddering form. They shared a look and he gave one, firm nod before she hurried back underdecks.

River was at the stairs and clapped a hand on her shoulder as he ushered her down. Some of the gathered crew gave nods or pats as well before they got back to work. Nathan tugged her to sit between him and Maria who looked to her with approval. He muttered to himself facts about hyperthermia as she leaned against him and part of her wished she had the captain’s warm coat.

They weathered out the rest of the storm like that. The damp hold made it difficult to get warm, but they did their best. At some point she was given a blanket and she wasn’t sure how long it took to fall asleep, but when she woke up leaning against Nathan half the crew was asleep, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.

She untangled herself and went to the stairs to see how it was outside. River was still at his post, seated on a step to watch for Reid, and gave her a small nod when she sat beside him with her blanket around her. It was still raining, but the sea had calmed, and the sun was peaking out just on the horizon. It seemed the Devil and her crew had lived to see another day.

“It was a brave thing you did there,” he said after a few minutes. It was an olive branch. She cautiously took it.

“I wasn’t about to let Hawkins die.”

He nodded again.

“If you want to join the riggers, I won’t stop you.”

“I’ll talk to Hawkins.”

They sat in silence for a long time. Eventually, Maria came to relieve him, and he dragged himself down the stairs for a rest. Alice had started to zone out, staring at the rain, and almost didn’t notice.

“Hey, Captain.”

“Alice. I heard a rumor you’ve been promoted. Congratulations.”

She laughed.

“News travels fast.”

“That it does.”

They lapsed into silence again. It was a more companionable kind than it had been with River. She moved as if to head back down, relieve someone who hadn’t slept yet, but Maria stopped her.

“Captain?”

“Maria is fine, you know. I’m not about to scold you,” she said. She looked amused; whether that was from her tattooed grin Alice couldn’t say. She sat back down. “I have a question for you, and I’d like an honest answer.”

“Okay.” That she hadn’t lied since she came clean about her identity, she didn’t say.

“Have you thought about what you’ll do next? We’re heading back to capitol – I know you said you wanted to get out of there, but if you need a recommendation, I’d be glad to give it.”

Her brow furrowed.

“Are you… firing me?”

“The opposite actually. You took a bullet for me, risked your life again in the storm, and most importantly you looked after Nathan. Don’t think I’m going to forget that.”

“I…”

“My crew are my family. Some come and go, but the ones that stay? It’s a bond thicker than blood.” She looked away then, out toward the storm where Reid stood solid at the wheel. “Nathan and Hawkins have both vouched for you. If you want to take a tattoo, you need only to ask. If not, I will be happy to help in whatever way you need.”

She was stunned. The tattooed crew were officers like Icy and Reid. To her knowledge they’d sailed together for at least a year before they’d even been offered the chance.

“I- Maria that’s kind, but-”

“Think about it. That’s all I ask. It’s more than just a tattoo, there’s an initiation to be done in Capitol, and it ties you down to us. Not things to be taken lightly.”

She nodded slowly. Thinking about it, she could do.

“What about my friends?”

“Milo and Lewis? I suppose if they’re willing. You did say from the start you were a package deal.”

“Then I’ll think about it.”

She nodded once, and Alice took that for the dismissal it was. She headed back underdecks to find the others. Lewis was fast asleep, his head against Milo’s chest. Milo was awake but had his eyes closed and his hand gently smoothing his ruffled feathers. She felt a warmth settle in her chest at the sight of them and wiggled in against Milo’s other side. He opened an eye briefly but simply put that arm around her too.

No one disturbed them until the storm had passed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a rough one, just a heads up. Take care of yourselves <3

At the end of the first week, Milo won the bet. It turned out that the fourth time was the charm, as one of the new boys missed breakfast three times before he finally managed to wake up in time to save his meal from Bone. It was sitting in front of the dog when he ran in, and Talon laughed as he handed it over with a comment about keeping that energy up. They had grumbled as they made Milo ten gold richer.

According to Maria’s announcement, it would take a little over a month to get to Capitol – plenty of time to settle into her new job up in the rigging. She rose through the ranks of their little crew quickly by virtue of being the best climber, and Hawkins commented one morning that he should’ve snatched her up the second she came onboard. She thought he felt bad about leaving her to deck duties for the first few months, but she was just glad to be here now.

Whether it was the guilt or what he saw in her, he spent extra time to get her up to speed. The riggers were a small, skilled lot, and it took time to memorize all the lines, knots, and tensions needed to follow orders. But Hawkins was a patient man and spent several meals and breaks with her and a piece of rope until she could do them in her sleep.

They were on the deck together, in fact, when the crown ship was spotted on the horizon. He was quizzing her with scenarios while they checked the running lines when Lewis called out for the captain from the crow’s nest. He flew down faster than if he’d used the ropes and handed her a spyglass when she came out from her office. She studied the ship on the horizon with a scowl.

“How the hell- Reid! Take a look at this!”

River came up from underdecks to see what was going on and Hawkins took the wheel so Reid could take a look.

 _Revenge?_ He signed once he’d handed the spyglass back. Maria shook her head.

“Even Thornbrooke wouldn’t risk civilians for something like that.”

“Is that the Torridge?” Alice asked as she looked out. It was a fairly large ship that even from this distance was blatantly coming right toward them. Maria gave a nod. “Maybe they got orders?”

“Either way, I don’t like it. If it’s a fight he wants, that’s what he’ll get. All hands at the ready!”

River parroted her order and sent Alice running to get Icy. Unlike the first time they’d gone against this ship, there was very little in the way of preparations. The crew scattered for weapons and war paint, which was much less methodical on their part this time. The officers coated their fingers in red and went down the lines of their crews to give them the mark of the devil. It took a couple passes to get fur, feathers, and scales, but then they were running to their battle stations.

Marks, their new sniper, let his gaze linger on the rifle strapped to Alice’s back for a moment too long. She turned to snap at him for it, but River beat her to it and he was off running to the rigging to get up to the crow’s nest.

They waited on deck with bated breath for several minutes after the rush to prepare before Maria called for the black. Hawkins rushed to hoist their brilliant black and white flag, but the crown ship did not drop her colors. Instead, the canon fire began.

Chunks of wood went flying as she took a good hit to the side and Maria yelled to Icy to fire. After a few seconds they returned fire on her command. Alice slid the gun around to aim at anyone on deck and the twin cracks told her Marks was doing the same. They managed to take down three men, all dressed for battle, before there was a crack of return fire. It buzzed past her ear and missed her by a few millimeters, but left her ears ringing from the sound of that and the cannon fire.

“They have snipers!” she called out. It was parroted a few times, along with an order to prepare to board as they swung the ship closer. Lines were pulled from the hold and sent over to trap the ship close. If she wanted a fight, she’d have a fight. The boarding crew pressed against the railing as they waited for River’s order. There was a mixture of panic and adrenaline in the air as each one knew this could be their last fight.

River let out a battle cry that sent her heart racing as they shoved planks across and ran onto the other ship. She drew her sword and crossed blades with the first man who tried to stop her. She snarled and dragged the sword across his belly before she turned sharply to avoid a cut from another man’s knife. He grunted and slashed at her again. This caught her arm but was relatively shallow, and she leaned into the pain to run him clean through the chest. She brought her foot up to push him off the blade and moved on to the next person.

The ring of steel came as their cutlasses clashed together. She swiped, he parried. He stabbed, she dodged. He was bigger than her, tall and wiry, but what she lacked in reach she more than made up for in speed. A few more strokes and she caught him across the throat. Blood spilled between his fingers as he reached up to his bleeding wound and she stabbed him again to put an end to it.

The next clash did not go as well in her favor. The woman knocked her sword away with a clean flourish and she had to scrabble back a few steps to escape three wild slashes. The sword came up again and she dove forward, claws out. The woman cried out in pain as she gripped her chest and _tugged_ to send them both to the ground. She ducked as she started to scrabble at her head as she dragged her claws across again and again, the woman trying to escape her grip, but the blows weakened and after a few moments she let out a wheezing sort of breath. She sat back, paws stained and sticky with blood.

The whole world was red, her vision hazy with fear, anger, and blood. A man cried out near her and brought his sword across, aimed at her neck. She ducked and went for his legs with her claws. Once he was on the ground she went for his throat.

His blood was warm and coppery as it spilled into her mouth. She spluttered and coughed as the taste brought her back from the frenzy and had to work to not be sick at the sight of the ruined corpses around. Elsewhere on the ship, she could hear the battle dying down. Most of the enemy crew lay dead and dying, and those that didn’t were being quickly rounded up.

She took a few breaths and looked around. River was dragging himself to stand after stabbing down through a man’s chest. Lewis wiped his daggers clean on the leg of his pants. Several others were already starting to poke through what remained of the ship now that the cannon fire had stopped. It looked like a skeleton crew, just enough men to keep her going, all wearing crown uniform. A group of five, including the captain, were led out by Reid and Milo at knifepoint and brough before the captain who was stood just behind Alice. She cringed at the messy state of herself and moved to get out of the way, still on her knees.

“You made a mistake here today, Thornbrooke,” Maria said. She drew her sword and he spit at her feet.

“I wasn’t about to take that lying down, Devil,” he grinned, “Any of you I take out with me are worth it.”

“Do any of you men wish to defend you captain?”

The four of them eyed the carnage around them, including the bloody tabaxi, and shook their heads. She nodded once.

“Right. Cut away one of their lifeboats, I don’t want any crown _scum_ on my ship. As for you,” she said and tipped back the captain’s chin with the tip of her sword, “A captain goes down with his ship.”

He snarled as Reid drug him away and set to lashing him to the mast. Milo escorted the other four to a lifeboat as ordered. All of them followed orders.

Alice drug herself to her feet as River approached. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he turned his attention to the captain.

“Several wounded. One- One casualty.”

Her shoulders dropped for a second, as if all the weight had come down on them at once. Alice turned away before she could ask who, and her blood ran cold. Nathan and a few of the gunners were coming over now that the battle was done, but she saw one of the other riggers – a kid named Spear – stagger up the steps. They had a ragged head wound and tears in their eyes as they signed the word _fox_ with bloody hands. She heard her name as she bolted to the stairs.

Underdecks was just as much of a bloodbath. It was dark and held the stench of death, but she was able to pick out Hawkins’ form between two guns. He was laying with his head cocked awkwardly in an elven woman’s lap – Avery. Most of the riggers had been on the boarding crew, after all. She sniffled as Alice came up and continued to pet his hair. She fell to her knees at the familiar sight of that sash, deep red with spilled blood. He had untied it at some point to press against the wound at his chest, and his hands now held it loose.

They sat in silence for what felt like ages and ignored the movement of their crewmates as Nathan searched for any wounded until there were footsteps right behind her. The soft growl that came from Alice surprised even her and died on her lips. It was just River. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but thought better of it.

“Come on,” he said, soft. Avery started crying anew when he gently picked up Hawkins’ body, but got to her feet. Alice caught his sash before it could fall to the bloody wooden floor and hugged it close as she followed them out.

They were the last to leave. All that remained on the Torridge were the dead and her trussed up captain once they’d passed back over to the Misty Lady. They backed the ship up in near silence and a few well-placed cannon shots sent her to a watery grave.

River laid Hawkins out on deck once Sal brought up his hammock. The two arranged him and Icy brought two cannonballs up as well to weigh down his feet. The crew gathered in a loose circle, like at council, but Alice stood apart from the crowd. She still tasted blood.

Nathan stepped up to read his last rites. He ask for blessings from his god and all those that watched over the seas. A few other people spoke about how he was a good man, how he would be missed. Even Maria stepped up and said a few words about his importance to this crew.

It was only when Reid caught her eye that she realized she was still holding his sash. She looked back with wide, lost eyes; her ears practically glued down to her head. Whatever he saw in her expression made him nod and no one else questioned it but Avery, who quietly asked if she wanted to speak once she’d said her piece. All eyes turned to her and she tried to swallow around the blood. She clutched at the fabric like a lifeline and it took a few tries before she could find words.

“I… wouldn’t be here without him. Saved my life and taught me everything I know,” she said. It was brief, but it was there. There were just too many things she wanted to tell him that now she never could. Someone gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, but she didn’t bother turning her head to see who.

When no one stepped up after her, River and Sal sewed the hammock shut. River murmured something she couldn’t hear as they gently hoisted him up over the side and into the water. She scrubbed at her eyes as Talon quietly mentioned the crew would get extra rations of rum, but stayed on deck when they started to drift down toward the mess.

Pirates didn’t dwell on sadness. They would drink to his memory tonight, and later in Capitol when there was more booze to go around. They would tell stories and exaggerate his achievements – anything to keep his memory alive. But it was too much for her tonight. Right now, she needed just a few minutes to wallow in it.

She didn’t get that, of course. Maria came up to where she was stood, having drifted toward the railing, and put a gentle hand on her back. They stared at one another for a moment before she let herself be led away. She followed her to her quarters where there was a large tub set up. Even with a cleric’s ability to create water, it was a rare luxury on a ship like this. She just stared at it for a minute before Maria spoke up.

“You’re covered in blood, Alice. Get cleaned up, then meet me in my office so we can talk.”

“Okay.”

Maria left and shut the door behind. She let her gaze linger around the room for a few moments. Even with the bath it wasn’t _opulent_ , just comfortable. A bed, a place to wash, a smaller desk for personal matters, and a trunk with a clean set of clothes laid out on top. Near the tub was a small table where she set her clothes and weapons. It was another minute before she could bring herself to put his sash down on top of everything else.

That done, she stepped into the bath. She expected it to be freezing, but it was pleasantly warm. She sunk down to her nose until the coppery smell made her flinch and she sat up to start scrubbing the red from her fur. The water was nearly black when she was done, and she shuddered as she stepped out of the bath. She grabbed the towel hung nearby and dried off. She hesitated then for just a moment before she pulled on the long shirt and pants that Maria had left out for her. They were a little big, but soft and clean, and that made the decision easier.

She padded out barefoot to the hallway that led to Maria’s office. The only person on deck was Reid from what she could tell, and if he heard her he didn’t turn his head. She knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open. Maria was sitting at her desk with a bottle of rum and three glasses. Her gaze softened when she saw Alice and fidgeted with her sleeves as she walked over to sit across from her.

“I’m glad they fit you, I wasn’t sure.” She poured three drinks and picked one up. Alice downed hers in one go. Maria did the same and looked at the third with a sigh as she set the glass down with a soft clink. “He was a good man. They’ll be hard shoes to fill.”

She poured another round and took a sip off hers. Alice ran her fingers along the rim of the glass but didn’t pick it up.

“If you want to leave, I understand,” Maria said after a few minutes passed in silence. She looked up in surprise. Maria’s eyes looked sad.

“Wh-What?”

“This is what piracy is,” she said and tapped the side of her glass for emphasis, “We fight, we kill, and one day, we die.”

“Why do you do it then?” she couldn’t help but ask. Maria let out a short huff of laughter.

“Because we’re _free_. I remember what it was like working for some pompous noble who bought his way to captainship, knowing that not one soul would care if I never came back. It’s a miserable life, Alice. But we made this crew, me and Reid, and even if I hadn’t been voted the captain – now that I’ve had a taste of that freedom? I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

She took a sip of her drink and thought about that a moment. The wound was still raw, still fresh, but it would eventually heal. Scar over into something that would only hurt if she poked at it too bad, just like when her father died, just like when Jack… left. But could she say the same if she lost the rest of them? She took another sip.

“All my life, I’ve wanted to be on the sea. And now that I’m here? I just don’t know.” She drained the rest of her drink. Her mouth still vaguely tasted like copper.

“Did you talk to the boys yet?” She shook her head. Maria topped her off. “Reid and River have come to me about them. If they want a spot here, they’ve got it. There’s no higher recommendation than theirs. But if you’d rather I not tell them, I won’t.”

“I don’t know what to do, Maria. How do we do this without him?”

“By keeping his memory alive. We keep going because we have to. And because it would be an insult if we didn’t.”

She sighed and set down her drink. Sometimes, she sounded so much like her father, it tugged at her heart strings.

“What do we have to do?”

Maria didn’t manage to hide her smile.

“You’ll find out when we get there. For tonight, rest. I’m sure your friends are worried about you after today.”

She felt a stab of guilt. They must be worried sick. Maria must have noticed, because she reached out and gave her hand a brief squeeze where it rested on the desk.

“Go find them. They’ll do more for you than this will,” she said with a nod toward the rum. “I’ll get your clothes cleaned up and to you in the morning, okay?”

She nodded and stood. The fatigue was finally starting to hit along with the drink, and she’d never wanted to curl up in a corner and just _sleep_ more than she did right now. Maria gave her a worried look but didn’t stop her as she thanked her for everything and walked out of the office to find Milo and Lewis.

They were on deck when she came out, standing together by the railing and looking up at the stars. Milo turned when she walked out and she couldn’t stop herself from running straight into his arms. The dam broke then, and she sobbed against his chest as he held her close. After a moment, Lewis put his arms around them both.

At some point, they would need to have a talk about what had happened, what they were going to do next. But, for tonight, it was enough to simply be together.


End file.
